Feeling Rotten

I just got off the phone with my Grandma. I haven't talked to her over the phone in years. We normally just send a quick email back and forth. I finally called her on her birthday this year, but she couldn't talk. She has had laringitis for a few weeks and so she called me back today and we chatted for about 20 minutes. It was so lovely and made me so happy. I love talking to my Grandma and hearing her stories. We have so much in common.

Today she told me about her husband being in the Army and living in Alaska. She loved it but they were cold and hungry. They made $120 a month. She worked until she got pregnant and was so sick she couldn't even get out of bed. (Luckily the rest of her pregnancies weren't that bad.) She said they didn't have much, so they were literally living on love, and she felt like it was a 9 month honeymoon. She had to borrow money from her dad to fly to Alaska to live with my grandpa.

She talked about how they got out of the army as soon as they could transferred to the Air Force where they were able to move back to Michigan. They lived with her in-laws and she didn't like it. She said it was no way to live. She wanted so badly to be able to stay at home with the kids, but she had to work.

She told me about moving to Montana and how that was the best choice for them at that time.

Then she heard Ellie start talking and she wished so badly that she could hold her in her arms. I couldn't believe that I never took my baby up to see her while I had flight benefits. (I worked at SkyWest Airlines) I felt so badly that I didn't make a trip up there even for just a day. Now my kids will probably never meet her and that breaks my heart. (Mike has never met her either.) I would give anything to be able to take them up to Montana so that she can give them hugs and kisses. She knows their names and knows so much about them (thanks to my dad:))

We started talking about how they only had cloth diapers and they couldn't bleach them because it was bad for baby bums. And how she would have given anything for disposable diapers back then. She told me to never go to cloth diapers because its not worth it. (That made me chuckle). She told me how her mom was such a hard worker. She worked from sun up until sun down. She scrubbed their clothes on a washboard and cooked in the kitchen all day. Grandma said that her mom was always tired.

I hope that I can continue these fun conversations with my grandma soon. (We had to stop talking because her voice was cracking again)

I miss her and love her very much. I can't believe I haven't made more of an effort to keep her in my life.